MINNEAPOLIS -- The goal was to return to the postseason and the Detroit Lions fell short, but despite dropping six of the final seven games, coach Jim Schwartz made sure to tell the team he was proud of the way they fought all season.

"He just said, it's been a tough year and he was proud to stand next to us and fight with us throughout this whole season," running back Reggie Bush said. "He's proud to call us his brothers and we'll see what happens next year."

Schwartz may be in his final hours as the Lions coach, but it's difficult to say the team quit on him down the stretch.

In all six of the team's second-half loses, the Lions held a lead in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously, not satisfied with our record, but the effort and preparation of the team, as we were in every single football game we play in this year," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "We had chances to win all of them. We didn't win as many as we probably should have."

Several players fell back on the cliche that the team was often just one play away. Multiple team leaders, including Bush and Stafford, willingly put the blame on the shoulders of the players.

"We prepare as well as anybody," Bush said. "We work as hard as anybody. But ultimately it's about what we do on the football field. I don't put this on the coaches. It's about the players and we have to find a way to get better."

Schwartz also continued to stay away from talking about his own future with the team, something the players appreciated.

"I don't think this is the appropriate time to even talk about that," receiver Nate Burleson said. "There's no point for him to talk about his future when there are a lot of guys in here that don't know about their own."